They say lionfish hunters can be divided into 2 groups: those who have gotten stung and those who will get stung.
Yesterday, on the second dive of the morning, I barely grazed one of the venomous spines of the lionfish, but that was enough for the razor-sharp spine to puncture the tip of my left thumb. The initial envenomation didn’t hurt much. Just a needle prick and a drop of blood. The initial pain was mild. I started thinking “This isn’t so bad.”
I nevertheless aborted my dive. During my ascent, the pain started to build.
I got on the boat, removed my gear and opened our lionfish first aid kit which included a heat pack and painkiller. I popped the pill and applied heat. I also cleaned the puncture wound to prevent infection.
The pain built in intensity to the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. Absolutely 10/10. It was concentrated around my thumb (where I was stung), but spread through my hand and to my elbow. My thumb and hand started swelling up.
Luckily I didn’t experience more severe, generalized symptoms that would indicate an allergic reaction to the lionfish venom. Our boat captain, Ray, kept checking in on me while we waited for the other divers to finish their dive and return to the boat.
When I got back to the dive shop, I took more painkiller and applied a lidocaine cream to my hand.
The pain peaked around 90 minutes after the accident, but stayed at a solid 6/10 for most of the day. It wasn’t until dinner time that the pain dissipated to a strong ache. It’s hard to say if the pain was going away, or if it was the pain medication.
When I woke up this morning, the pain was completely gone, but my hand was still very swollen (which is apparently normal).
Update 1: After 48 hours the swelling in my hand was mostly (but not completely) gone. My thumb is still rather swollen, but it has improved a bit too.
Update 2: Thumb tip is still a bit swollen after 2 weeks.
Update 3: A full month later, I still feel a slight fullness in my thumb.
Moral of the story: Do not let your hands or body get anywhere near a lionfish! Ensure you’re holding your containment device by its handle, far from the opening where a rogue spine can poke out. Be extra careful when inserting the lionfish into the containment device, and when removing the spear.
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